Seattle's Madison Valley goes French for Bastille Bash

Seattle's Madison Valley will get a French twist on Saturday as the neighborhood hosts the second annual Bastille Bash. (Image courtesy Facebook - Bastille Bash) | Zoom

Seattle's Madison Valley will get a French twist on Saturday as the neighborhood hosts the second annual Bastille Bash.

Café Flora's Nat Stratton-Clarke and KIRO Radio's own Thierry Rautureau are co-organizers of the event, which was a runaway success its first year in 2012.

"We thought maybe we'd get 500 people to come. We were thinking big, so we thought. Then day of, we sold the first 500 wine glasses in the first hour. So we had to do some quick phone calls, phone a friend, and get a truck full of wine glasses there very quickly," Stratton-Clarke tells KIRO Radio's Let's Eat.

In the end, there were around 1,500 attendees on the festival's first go-round. This year, he says they're preparing for around 3,000.

"We are just going bigger and better," says Stratton-Clarke.

The event includes wine tasting, 10 tastes for $20, and food bite offerings that range from $2.50 to $7.50. Retailers in the area are also hosting the tastings and offering sidewalk sales and giveaways.

New this year is a stage offering demos from chefs and community garden experts.

"We've introduced a chef and gardening demo stage this year sponsored by Cedar Grove and by Viking. We've got some great chefs who are going to be demoing French food."

A few of the notables participating in the demo include Chef Cormac Mahoney of the Madison Park Conservatory, Chef Jason Wilson of Crush, Chef John Platt of St. Cloud, and Jim Drohman of Le Pichet and Café Presse.

Stratton-Clarke says the Bastille Bash is "crammed full of French fun," and he's anticipating a beautiful day.

Bastille Bash will be held Saturday, July 13 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on East Madison Street from 27th to 30th Avenue and down 29th off the main street.

Jamie Skorheim,
MyNorthwest.com EditorWhether it's floating on Green Lake, eating shrimp tacos at Agua Verde, or taking weekend drives out to the Cascades, she loves to enjoy the Pacific Northwest lifestyle as much as humanly possible.